Mike White and ‘White Lotus’ Cast Tease “Mouth-Agape Shocking” Supersized Season 3 Finale

“I think people are going to hate Mike White.”

Or so says actress Charlotte Le Bon when asked to tease The White Lotus season finale, which airs Sunday on HBO.

White, for his part, is prepared for that hate — though based on prior experience, he’s more likely to receive a full spectrum of reactions.

“I’m always going to get people who are mad,” he says of a drama that’s garnered 43 Emmy nominations to date. “I remember last season, halfway through, they were like, ‘They don’t know what to do with Jennifer Coolidge,’ and I’m like, ‘Just shut the fuck up.’ And then they were mad that she died!”

But this much White is certain of: his 90-minute season ender is exactly the episode that he set out to made. “As a filmmaker, it’s a piece of work where I’m like, ‘I can’t believe I did that.’ I mean, a lot of it is because there are so many talented people working on it, but it just feels like it racks focus in a way that’s very satisfying as a writer,” he says. “And so, yeah, it’s sad, but my hope is that it will feel like a cathartic sad or a satisfying sad and not a ‘What the fuck?’ sad.”

While a few of White’s season three stars insist they don’t know exactly how the season ends, many more are happy to tease the final episode.

“Season three is about spirituality, it’s about life and it’s about death, and you get all of them in episode eight,” offers Walton Goggins, with a mischievous smile rarely seen on his character.

Jon Gries, who’s already survived two previous Lotus finales, is not about to start divulging secrets now. Instead, he warns, “It is shocking — absolutely, mouth-agape shocking,” while Lalisa “Lisa” Manobal adds: “You’re not ready for it.”

Aimee Lou Wood chooses “profound” as her one-word descriptor for what’s to come, then quickly adds a few more, including gut-wrenching and surprising. “There’s triumph, there’s despair, it’s kind of the full spectrum of what White Lotus can be — it’s all in there,” she says. “And also, I love the way it always repeats a format, but what’s occurring within it is so different and I think that this particular death is very different from the other deaths.”

All Michelle Monaghan offers is that it’s “emotional and deeply satisfying.” And Jason Isaacs echoes that sentiment: “There are three important parts to every film: the ending, the ending and the ending,” he says. “And this end is perfection.”

Adds Leslie Bibb: “Get fucking ready. Like, get ready. Let’s fucking go.”

For more White Lotus, read THR’s uncensored oral history with Mike White and the cast, as well as how season three cast its ensemble.